A flexible dry micro-dome electrode for ECG monitoring

Abstract

This paper describes a flexible dry electrode with micro domes on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) for the monitoring of electrocardiogram (ECG). The fabrication procedure of this microstructure was mainly composed of melting photoresist, double-PDMS-molding, nickel (Ni) plating and encapsulation between two thin PDMS films. To investigate the performance of the fabricated micro-dome electrode, three dry electrodes with different arrays were fabricated to conduct the contact impendence measurements. ECG signals were measured by both the standard wet electrodes (Ag/AgCl) and dry electrodes. Experimental results showed the dry electrode provided signal quality that was comparable to the standard wet electrode without the need for skin preparation or electrolytic solution. The proposed dry electrode is more comfortable, with less skin irritation and requires no conductive gel. Thus, this flexible dry micro-dome electrode could find potential biomedical applications in health monitoring.